Am so glad we were able to experience this special National Park. It was established in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt to “preserve the works of man”, the first national park of its kind. The park administers the preservation of archeological sites and other works and relics of the Ancestral Puebloan people. National Geographic Traveler picked it as one of the “50 Must See Places of a Lifetime”. We all would agree. It protects over 4,500 archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. They are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.
Matt drove into the park—and once again, poor Hank was subjected to switchbacks climbing higher and higher looking over canyons and valleys far below. We stopped at the Far View Visitor Center and planned what we would see in our day in the park. We began by purchasing tickets for a ranger-guided tour of Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde’s largest cliff dwelling. This one-hour tour involved descending uneven stone steps and climbing five ladders for a 100-foot vertical climb.
Looking back up, you can see how far down we have come to get to the cliff dwelling. You can just make out the people standing on the platform in the upper left corner of this picture. Now we have to go back up!
Notice how happy we all are once we get to the top of the canyon once again. Even Hank, as vertically challenged as he is, was thrilled to have done this.
We took a break and had a picnic lunch—one of our favorite activities in the parks.
Fortified, we went on to tour the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum and then visit Spruce Tree House, the park’s third largest and best preserved cliff dwelling. This dwelling is at the bottom of a deep cliff and is reached by climbing down a very steep path of many switchbacks. About a third of the way down, Hank and I turned back—mostly because we weren’t sure we would survive the almost vertical climb back up. We watched and photographed Matt and Alice as they explored and then trudged back up the hill. Alice said she felt like they had passed a “stress test” just making it back up the path.
The red stain you see on the cliff walls is from the fire retardant that was dumped on the tree tops there during a forest fire last summer. The red color will eventually fade.
And a few more photos of this historical place.
Sadly, this will be the end of our visit with Matt and Alice. They will begin the journey back east tomorrow, while we continue on to visit Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. We will miss their great company and will look forward to being with them in the Keys again this winter.
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